Cooler Master Unveils MasterLiquid ML360P Silver Edition Liquid Cooler

[erek]

Impressed?

"This overall design of this AIO is amazing, the Silvery-white coloring allows this AIO to match any white-colored PC. Sadly, as of right now Cooler Master has not announced any pricing for this AIO cooler."

https://wccftech.com/cooler-master-unveils-masterliquid-ml360p-silver-edition-liquid-cooler/

 

[Skull_Angel]

Not really impressed. I'd be a bit more impressed if, instead of AIOs, these companies would invest in decent entry to mid-level custom-loop components without seemingly-downplaying heat pipe designs (and bring back aftermarket GPU designs, may be VRM too).

 

[GotNoRice]

Looks very similar to the Cooler Master ML360R that I'm running, but the benchmarks of the ML360P that I've seen show it not performing as well despite costing more. I'm not sure why. My ML360R did a great job with my i7-5820K @ 4.5Ghz and also works great now with my Ryzen 9 3900X. Both of those CPUs are beasts in terms of heat output, especially while overclocked.

 

[M76]

Looks very similar to the Cooler Master ML360R that I'm running, but the benchmarks of the ML360P that I've seen show it not performing as well despite costing more. I'm not sure why. My ML360R did a great job with my i7-5820K @ 4.5Ghz and also works great now with my Ryzen 9 3900X. Both of those CPUs are beasts in terms of heat output, especially while overclocked.

I'm skeptical of 'independent' testing nowadays, as I had the exact opposite experience of what they claim twice now. (AIOs are worse than top end air coolers is what they say)

 

[Skull_Angel]

I'm skeptical of 'independent' testing nowadays, as I had the exact opposite experience of what they claim twice now. (AIOs are worse than top end air coolers is what they say)

It depends on the configuration; while a 360 rad should have more cooling potential than a top-end dual-tower heat-pipe cooler, if cold-plate, flow, fans, and fin-density aren't properly combined it's possible to have weaker performance.

 

[M76]

It depends on the configuration; while a 360 rad should have more cooling potential than a top-end dual-tower heat-pipe cooler, if cold-plate, flow, fans, and fin-density aren't properly combined it's possible to have weaker performance.

In my experience AIOs always beat air cooling. But that's in stark contrast to what gamersnexus tests show for example.

 

[Keljian]

In my experience AIOs always beat air cooling. But that's in stark contrast to what gamersnexus tests show for example.

Please show me where! Just about every test I have seen they have not. Especially high end air like the d15

 

[bonehead123]

WORD: NO

It's not a " WHITE" cooler as long as I can still see any black/dark gray parts anywhere....which amounts to false advertising IMHO

I know it would cost like an additional $.003974 worth of pigment to make it COMPLETELY white, but still, just sayin......

 

[M76]

Please show me where! Just about every test I have seen they have not. Especially high end air like the d15

That is exactly my point, that in about every test the NH-D15 comes out better than AIO coolers, yet I have the exact opposite real world experience.
My point is that tests only show how coolers perform in one specific scenario, which can not be representative for everyone.

It has to do with how the radiator is fitted and how good the airflow is. Most cooler tests are done on testbenches where there is no case airflow and circulation. The cooler just heats up the air surrounding it and then sits in it.
If the AIO is just slammed inside an oven it will perform worse than the air cooler, but if it is constantly supplied by cold air by good airflow it performs better than any air cooler I've had.
And I've had an NH-D14 and currently have an NH-D15. And both were disappointing in terms of cooling performance when compared to AIO coolers inside cases with good airflow. And in terms of price/performance even more dissappointing.

But I've also tested with bad airflow cases, or restrictive low volume cases, and that's where the coin gets flipped, and the NH-D15 (or comparative air cooler) becomes significantly better than an AIO.

 

[Auer]

I never used an AIO so I have no experience with this but arent decent quality air coolers more quiet?

It seems that a $100 air cooler beats a $100 AIO in just about every metric.

 

[M76]

I never used an AIO so I have no experience with this but arent decent quality air coolers more quiet?

AIOs usually have beefier fans than air coolers like the NH-D15, so at full blow yes the air coolers are usually quieter. That's another reason why you can't have a one size fits all comparison. I'm very sensitive to noise and an AIO running at full speed would drive me absolutely mad, so I always restrict fan speed.

It seems that a $100 air cooler beats a $100 AIO in just about every metric.

So far I've had two $80 AIOs beat two $100 air coolers. So I'm not going to deny my experience. Placement and case airflow has a huge impact on AIO performance. Much more than the differences between different coolers in one situation, and far beyond the realm of measurement error.
I've literally just tried it with my current case last week, and between two placements of an AIO one was significantly better, and I mean double digits in temperature. And no it wasn't a seating issue as the water block was never removed from the CPU only the radiator placement and case airflow changed.

 

[Skull_Angel]

That is exactly my point, that in about every test the NH-D15 comes out better than AIO coolers, yet I have the exact opposite real world experience.
My point is that tests only show how coolers perform in one specific scenario, which can not be representative for everyone.

It has to do with how the radiator is fitted and how good the airflow is. Most cooler tests are done on testbenches where there is no case airflow and circulation. The cooler just heats up the air surrounding it and then sits in it.
If the AIO is just slammed inside an oven it will perform worse than the air cooler, but if it is constantly supplied by cold air by good airflow it performs better than any air cooler I've had.
And I've had an NH-D14 and currently have an NH-D15. And both were disappointing in terms of cooling performance when compared to AIO coolers inside cases with good airflow. And in terms of price/performance even more dissappointing.

But I've also tested with bad airflow cases, or restrictive low volume cases, and that's where the coin gets flipped, and the NH-D15 (or comparative air cooler) becomes significantly better than an AIO.

Your experiences with restrictive cases favoring heat-pipe coolers isn't the norm, this is because rads should vent hot air directly out of the case while heat-pipe should have some interior spill before being vented. But, it's likely that your experience is due to the nature of heat-pipes.

In general, phase-change heat-pipes have better cooling potential per-area compared to liquid radiators, but liquid radiators have the advantage of utilizing more area for heat dissipation. The cooling potential of heat-pipes also scales with temperature due to the nature of phase-change, so it's not uncommon to see radiators keeping low-power temperatures at a lower baseline compared to heat-pipes, while the opposite will happen at higher temps (if the liquid system doesn't have necessary potential).

In the case of this particular radiator's lack luster performance, it's likely due to the low-profile radiator, combined with restrictive flow (double tubing, thin rad, possibly fittings, liquid mixture, and pump design as well), and possibly sub-optimal fan matching. Adding shrouds/ducts between the fans and rad could increase it's performance, but that removes it's advantage of using a low-profile radiator to begin with (mostly case aesthetic, but possibly space restrictions as well). It's optimal use-case would be in a housing that could not accommodate a tower cooler or thicker radiator, but able to accommodate a longer 360 rad, making it a pretty niche piece.